1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates in general to the field of computers, and more particularly to the use of computer software. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to the creation of semi-custom software through the use of a standardized software factory.
The present invention is related to the subject matter of the following commonly assigned, co-pending United States patent applications:
(1) Ser. No. 11/735,275 entitled “Software Factory”;
(2) Ser. No. 11/735,168 entitled “Life Cycle of a Work Packet in a Software Factory”;
(3) Ser. No. 11/735,152 entitled “Software Factory Readiness Review”;
(4) Ser. No. 11/735,120 entitled “Rapid On-Boarding of a Software Factory”;
(5) Ser. No. 11/735,056 entitled “Assembling Work Packets Within a Software Factory”;
(6) Ser. No. 11/735,070 entitled “Project Induction in a Software Factory”;
(7) Ser. No. 11/735,086 entitled “Work Packet Forecasting in a Software Factory';
(8) Ser. No. 11/835,200 entitled “Dynamic Routing and Load Balancing Packet Distribution with a Software Factory”;
(9) Ser. No. 11/844,031 entitled “System to Monitor and Maintain Balance of Factory Quality Attributes Within a Software Factory Operating Environment”; and
(10) Ser. No. 11/847,952 entitled “Security Process Model for Tasks Within a Software Factory.”
The content of the above-referenced applications is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Software can be classified as being in one of two main categories: “off-the-shelf” and “custom.” As the name implies, off-the-shelf software is pre-developed software that has little, if any flexibility. Thus, the customer must tailor her activities to conform to the software. While such software is initially inexpensive compared to custom software, long-term costs (in time and money for software implementation, training, business process alterations, etc.) can be onerous in an enterprise environment. Custom software, as the name implies, is custom built software that is tailored to existing or planned activities of the customer.
Today, software development, and particularly custom software development, is perceived as more of an art than a science. This is particularly true for custom software that is being created by a third-party for an enterprise customer. That is, a developer must rely on her experience, training, intuition and communication skills to create software is both unique and reliable. This often leads to software of varying degrees of reliability, usefulness and value to the customer.